Potential fields of the rural bioeconomy

Project duration:
2016 – 2019

Project management:

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The joint project “ländliche Bioökonomie” focuses on evaluating new, decentralised approaches for material-energetic use of biomass. The aim of the project is to identify the opportunities of a rural bioeconomy for both practical actors locally and decision-makers on a higher level (federal states, state, EU) and to develop possible courses of action with them. In order to achieve these goals, comprehensive research, expert discussions and workshops will be carried out at the technical, regional and (federal) political level.

 

In a first step, possible approaches for a regional material-energetic utilisation of biomass in rural areas will be identified. For this purpose, raw material and local potentials are recorded, market analyses for selected products and product groups are carried out, and the political-legislative framework is analysed. In a second step, a more detailed technical, economic and ecological analysis will be carried out for selected exemplary value chains. Different treatment processes of coupled and cascaded biomass use will be considered. On the basis of primary data, an economic, regional value and ecological evaluation of these practical examples is carried out. The possible regional economic and ecological effects associated with individual bioeconomy approaches will be calculated on a regional basis. A scenario-based extrapolation illustrates the effects for over the whole of Germany.

As a result recommendations for the further development of “pioneer” activities in practice are developed and recommendations for the design of the political-legislative framework are drafted. Potential action fields of a rural bioeconomy will be identified and foundations laid for regional bioeconomy concepts and innovative business models in rural areas. The project results, which will be presented in several events and summarised in a brochure, will also serve to initialise and network pioneering regions of the rural bioeconomy.

From the outflow of financial resources through unused, regional potentials to more added value in rural areas through the use of these regional potentials.